2 July 2009
r. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) took home a fortune of at least $29 million as part of a $182 million sale by CHOP of its worldwide royalty interest in the Merck Rotateq vaccine to Royalty Pharma in April of last year, according to an investigation by Age of Autism. Based on an analysis of current CHOP administrative policies, the amount of income distributed to Offit could be as high as $46 million.
There is nothing improper about receiving compensation for a patented innovation; but the extraordinary valuation placed on CHOP’s patents raises concerns over Offit’s use of his former position on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to help create the market for rotavirus vaccine — to effectively vote himself rich.
Offit’s claim to a share of the profits from Merck’s Rotateq revenues is based on his role as a listed inventor on the cluster of patents that protect Merck’s vaccine.
Unlike most other patented products, the market for mandated childhood vaccines is created not by consumer demand, but by the recommendation of an appointed body called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In a single vote, ACIP can create a commercial market for a new vaccine that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of months. For example, after ACIP approved the addition of Merck’s (and Offit’s) Rotateq vaccine to the childhood vaccination schedule, Merck’s Rotateq revenue rose from zero in the beginning of 2006 to $655 million in fiscal year 2008. When one multiplies a price of close to $200 per three dose series of Rotateq by a mandated market of four million children per year, it’s not hard to see the commercial value to Merck of favorable ACIP votes.
From 1998 to 2003, Offit served as a member of ACIP.
[Source]
Chapter: Health
1 July 2009
An international drug company made a hit list of doctors who had to be “neutralised” or discredited because they criticised the painkiller Vioxx, a now-withdrawn anti-arthritis drug the pharmaceutical giant produced.
Staff at US company Merck & Co emailed each other about the list of doctors who were mainly researchers and academics. The email, which came out in the Federal Court in Melbourne as part of a class action against the drug company, included the words “neutralise”, “neutralised” or “discredit” against some of the doctors’ names.
It is also alleged the company used intimidation tactics against critical researchers, including dropping hints it would stop funding to institutions and claims it interfered with academic appointments.
“We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live,” a Merck employee wrote, according to an email excerpt read to the court.
Merck & Co and its Australian subsidiary, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, are being sued for compensation by more than 1000 Australians, who claim they suffered heart attacks or strokes as a result of Vioxx.
Merck last year settled thousands of lawsuits in the US over the effects of Vioxx for $US4.85billion ($7.14 billion) but made no admission of guilt.
The drug was launched in 1999 and at its height of popularity was used by 80 million people worldwide because it did not cause stomach problems as did traditional anti-inflammatory drugs.
[Source]
Chapter: Health
29 June 2009
Children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit chemicals called phthalates, are more likely to have autism, according to research by Swedish and U.S. scientists. The study of Swedish children is among the first to find an apparent connection between an environmental chemical and autism.
In this study, families were asked questions about flooring as part of research investigating allergies and indoor air pollutants. Phthalates, used to make soft plastic, have in previous studies been connected to allergies and asthma.
The researchers found four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother’s smoking, family economic problems and condensation on windows, which indicates poor ventilation.
Infants or toddlers who lived in bedrooms with vinyl, or PVC, floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later than those with wood or linoleum flooring.
[Source]
Chapter: Autism
27 June 2009
Doctors are baffled and intrigued by Brooke Greenberg who is the size of an infant and with the mental capacity of a toddler. She has never been diagnosed with any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why. She still has baby teeth at 16 and her bone age is estimated to be more like 10 years old.
[Source]
Chapter: People
25 June 2009
The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You by Robert Thompson
If you believe that bones are made of calcium, you have subscribed to The Calcium Lie. You’re not alone. Most consumers and, surprisingly, most doctors, believe that bones are made of calcium. Yet any basic biochemistry textbook will tell you the truth: Bones are made of at least a dozen minerals and we need all of them in perfect proportions in order to have healthy bones and healthy bodies. If you get too much calcium, through food sources or by taking supplements, you set yourself up for an array of negative health consequences, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, Type 2 hypothyroidism, hypertension, depression, problem pregnancies and more. This book gives you all the information you need to stay healthy and to regain your health if you or your doctor have been duped by The Calcium Lie.
Read reviews
Reviewers’ Rating:
Chapter: Health
«
